Being the age I am, I’m just old enough to remember flip-phones.
A relatively simple concept that has been on my mind lately for reasons I’ll get to. Widely considered obsolete unless you just want a cheap phone to make calls etc., these phones featured a screen on one side, a keypad on the other, with a hinge joint between the two.
The reason that this device has been dragged back to the front of my brain in recent weeks is because I am reminded of them every time I see this:
To be clear: I’m aware that this foldable iphone is not the first foldable modern smartphone (I know Samsung released them years ago also).
But I’m also left wondering: what is the point? I think I can perfectly understand the use of flip phones as they were when they were popular, but foldable phones I just can’t see the benefit. As far as I can see, these foldable type of phones offer little to no benefit that you couldn’t get from, say a regular iPhone or Samsung phone, in terms of the consumer and how they are used in general life. I get that the hardware/software may be different, but that’s not going to be a factor in most people’s daily lives (you’re not going to care about the type of core, or the screen resolution when you make a phone call, etc.) It seems like it’s more of a gimmick from the companies making them to try and make more sales, but even if that’s the case, the product must have something unique to offer, so what is it about foldable phones that are so unique besides the gimmick of folding?
If cost was no different I would get one if they would do it right. Motorola had one that had a normal phone sized screen and then folded in half like a dumbphone but then they put onther screen on the outside. I would like it designed to protect the screen when closed and I don’t want another screen on the outside to be available to break. conversely I use a tablet and having a phone that gave that larger form factor as an option would be great. now really my ultimate though is just a dumb/featur/flip:phone that can act as a mobile hotspot and that you can connect to and go through all the settings and features and such from a web browser to the local address of the phone. especially to upload/download contacts and calendar.